


Where's Your Captain Now?

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/M, Pointless fluff, dream bubble shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-10
Updated: 2014-03-10
Packaged: 2018-01-15 06:52:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1295542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dream bubbles are strange. </p>
<p>There's no pattern to the way they move. You could spend eons looking for someone and never find them. Then when you do find the person you're looking for, they turn out to be a completely different version from another timeline, with different memories of you-- assuming they remember you at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where's Your Captain Now?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Signel_chan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Signel_chan/gifts).



> this was kind of sloppily written and i didn't really like how it turned out, but when i gave it to amanda on tumblr she really liked it so here it is. enjoy, i guess.

Dream bubbles are strange. 

There's no pattern to the way they move. You could spend eons looking for someone and never find them. Then when you do find the person you're looking for, they turn out to be a completely different version from another timeline, with different memories of you-- assuming they remember you at all. 

That's why you don't make an effort to look for any of the people you used to call friends. Why get your hopes up? Besides, you know enough now to realize that most of them didn't think much of you anyway. 

Honestly, you can't blame them. You really were awful. Hell, who's to say you aren't, even now?

You think it's safe to say that your ragtag pirate crew has officially disbanded. Meenah stayed the longest, but even she left after a while. 

_"Gotta be able to do my own thing, y'know? Don't get me wrong, Serks, I like you... I just don't want nofin' holding me back. I've gotta figure out my own way to deal with Aranea, so it'd probs be best if I swam solo from here on spout."_

You sigh and absentmindedly toy with the braids she gave you. You don't know if you'll ever see her again. You kind of hope so. You were beginning to think that maybe you'd found someone whom you could consider your friend rather than your subordinate. 

The dark Dersite castles looming over you fade into blinding blue sky. You feel a wave of heat wash over you as sand forms beneath your feet. Your brow furrows; you recognize this place. You spent long perigees here, trying to track down the ultimate weapon. _Ugh_. Looking at it now just makes unpleasant memories resurface. You turn to go back to the cool and dim purple palaces, only to find that they're gone, having been replaced with an endless desert. 

Great. Now you've gone and trapped yourself in the middle of shit-scraping nowhere. Your hand moves to your pocket before that you recall that you lost your pirate coat with your map of spacetime in it a while back. Your arm falls back to your side, dejected. 

Not that there would have been much point anyway. What are you planning to do when you get out of here, make a hero of yourself? _Yeah, right._

You keep walking. 

You don't keep track of where you're going or how long you seem to shuffle forward without a purpose. It doesn't matter. At some point you come to the top of a hill. It's not terribly big, but you can still see for miles around. 

You peer down at the foot of the hill. There's a shrine there, with two reptilian statues atop it. You think they're lizards or something. You slide down the sandy slope on the balls of your feet, skidding to a stop several meters in front of the structure.

That's when you notice the footprints. They're scattered about the base of the shrine almost randomly, as if someone had decided to alternate between walking and flying. There's nothing particularly special about them, but they're fresh, which means that you have company. Instinct prompts you to put your guard up instantly. 

Shielding your eyes from the sun with one hand, you casually look around you, surveying everything you can see from where you're standing. You don't see anyone, but you still have the feeling that you're being watched. 

"Who goes there?"

The voice sounds like it's coming from above you, but the sun nearly blinds you every time you try to look up. You already know who it belongs to, though. You can feel frustration, denial and guilt gnawing at you from the inside, but there's no point in arguing with yourself. 

"Tavros, I know that it's you. I'm not stupid." You don't know if it's your Tavros, the one you fucked up with so remarkably, but you can tell that it's _a_ Tavros. He's obviously trying to disguise his voice. You suppose you can add that to the list of things he completely sucks at. 

"That's debatable," is the reply.

You feel a twinge of irritation, but you're too emotionally spent to argue. Instead, you flop down in the shade, your back resting on the base of the monument.

"Hey, I didn't say you could stay here!" he protests. He's still trying to keep up his act.

"I don't recall you being the boss of me. I don't have anyone holding me back, so now I can do whatever I want." Bitterness manages to leak into your voice, but you don't care. 

"I was here first. I came to this place because it's warm and it's quiet and I didn't want any mean bullies like you bothering me!" You don't fail to notice how he almost slips up and reverts back to his real voice towards the end of his statement. He clears his throat and continues, "I don't care what timeline you're from, I already made a rule: 'No Vriskas Allowed!' That means you!"

"You're going to have to make an exception for me. I happen to be a captain."

He's quiet for a few moments before responding. "I don't want to see you right now, leave me alone."

"If you want me gone so bad, then get your cowardly ass down here and make me leave," you scoff.

Your challenge is met with dead silence. _Tch. That's what I thought._

You've barely finished your thought when he touches down in front of you, stumbling slightly upon landing. He quickly brushes himself off and straightens up, standing defiantly with his hands on his hips. 

Your pump skips a beat. It _is_ him. You're almost positive that this Tavros is the one from your timeline, your ex-matesprit. Perhaps it's the way he carries himself so stiffly, almost as if on edge. Your "training" regimens got his legs to stop shaking, his lower lip to stop quivering. His eyes are steely, almost cold with determination. He almost looks _angry_. 

You think that's what surprises you the most upon looking him over, because until he'd left you, he'd never had the guts to stand up to you before. You feel a twinge in your thoracic cavity. Maybe he really is better off without you.

Then there's the fact that he still has on the ridiculous costume you made him wear when he was a member of your crew. None of the alternate versions of him that you'd met since then had been wearing it, so you'd like to believe it's unique to your timeline. 

He's the first to speak. "Go away." The stutter has completely disappeared from his voice. 

You set your jaw. "No."

He narrows his eyes. "Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"Yes."

"No... hey, wait a minute...!"

You throw your head back and cackle. "I win. Guess I'm staying!"

He splutters indignantly. "But - I didn't mean - you can't just -" Fuming, he manages to regain control of himself. "You cheated!" 

You scoff. "How did I cheat? You just weren't thinking on your feet, as usual."

He growls, "Ugh, shut up! God, you always ruin everything!"

Raising an eyebrow, you lean forward, feigning interest. "Oh? And how's that?" 

"You just-- you always have to come in and make me feel stupid and worthless. I've tried to be nice to you but it just doesn't fucking work because you always respond by kicking me around and treating me like shit. I hate that-- no, you know what, I hate _you_."

His words hit you like a punch in the gut. He hates you... he _hates_ you. It takes a few moments for you to process this, even though it should be perfectly believable at this point. After all, you made him miserable, both in life and in death. 

Your smile widens as it sinks in how ironic it is that, after sweeps of romantic confusion and trying to make him hate you, he only decides that he does when you don't want him to. Bitter laughter wells up in your throat and bubbles past your lips, causing your shoulders to shake and your eyes to water. You suppose it serves you right that your luck has finally run out. 

Tavros's eye twitches. "What... what are you laughing about? Are you laughing at me? I just told you that I hate you! What the fuck am I going to have to do to make you take me seriously?" He's trembling now with pent-up rage, his fists clenched at his sides. 

You shake your head and wipe at your eyes, trying to suppress your giggles. "No... it's just... it's funny to me... I spent so long being a complete bitch to you because I hated you. I wanted you to hate me, too, but no matter what I did you'd just cower and take it. And now... after you leave and I actually realize how terrible I've been, I find you again only to have you tell me that you do hate me! I finally ended up getting you to after I'd just changed my mind. Isn't that hilarious?"

Tavros stands silently, watching you laugh your ass off as though you're insane. His broad shoulders sag as the anger slowly drains from his face and is replaced by something akin to exhaustion and confusion. "No, it's not. It's just kind of... sad." He stares at the ground, kicking at the sand. "It's like whenever I think I'm starting to understand you, you get even weirder."

You raise an eyebrow at him. "You're not going to tell me that you pity me all of a sudden, are you?"

"Tch. That's what you'd like, I bet." 

"And so what if it is?" you shoot back. "So what if I want one of those dumb fairy-tale endings where I get swept off my feet by a dashing prince? I'm a lot of things, but I'm not so naïve as to think that could actually happen. I know by now that dreams and reality are meant to be kept separate for a reason." You take a deep breath and close your eyes, allowing your words to sink in. You guess that all you really want is someone to care about you, like your lusus and your friends never did. _That's not too much to ask, is it?_

The silence is as stifling as the heat of your surroundings. The seconds drag on interminably until you decide that you've humiliated yourself enough. Standing up and brushing off your pants, you shove your hands into your pockets and begin walking away from him to continue your pointless trek into the horizon. Somehow, you feel even emptier than you did before. 

Then you feel a hand on your arm. "Hey, Vriska..."

You stop in your tracks, keeping your gaze fixed on the ground. "What? I'm leaving you alone. That's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"Yeah, right. You never do anything just because I tell you to." He turns you to face him, putting his hands on your shoulders. You refuse to look up at him and he sighs. 

"What if... I told you that I've gotten strong enough to sweep even your heavy ass off its feet?" 

You look up at him, startled, to see that he's wearing his crooked smile-- the one that makes your insides get all gooey. 

Once you recover, you smirk. "I'd tell you that you'd better get sweeping, cabin boy." 

You've fucked up a lot of shit, in life and in death, but you're not the type to pass up a chance at redemption just because you don't deserve it.

When you used to read your ancestor's diary as a wriggler, you'd dream about how a strong and handsome troll would one day carry you into the sunset and you'd live happily ever after. You'd never imagined that you'd be soaring through the air, piggybacking your prince and making comical rocket noises while trying to steer him by his enormous horns. 

At least by now you've learned that things don't always end up the way you plan them, so you might as well take advantage of "happily ever after" while it lasts.

In any case, you enjoy this scenario a lot more.


End file.
